McCollum is planning to fight for center job
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Jun. 13 2007

At age 37 and coming off major knee surgery, it looked very much as if Andy
McCollum was nearing the end of the line in professional football. If he were a
dinosaur, the next stop would be the tar pits.

But McCollum, a brontosaurus-size center, seems intent on avoiding professional
extinction. As the Rams' offense broke the huddle Tuesday — the first day of
the team's full-squad minicamp — McCollum was snapping the ball to quarterback
Marc Bulger with the first offensive unit.

It was widely assumed that Brett Romberg, who started the last three games of
the 2006 season at center, would begin '07 as the starter. Romberg rotated in
with the first unit Tuesday. But with McCollum's left knee healthy, it looks as
if center will be one of the team's most hotly contested positions when
training camp opens in late July.

"Certainly the group that we finished the season with played very well," Rams
coach Scott Linehan said. "But Andy's back. When we put the pads on and we
start training camp, we'll resume the center competition there."

McCollum has been cleared to practice since mid-May.

"I'm doing all the reps. All the workouts, and the drills. Everything,"
McCollum said. "It feels like it's 100 percent."

McCollum had been a fixture on the Rams' offensive line before he suffered the
injury in the '06 opener, against Denver. He had started every regular season
and postseason game for the Rams this decade — 104 contests in all — until the
injury. With the exception of the 2003 season, when he played left guard, and
one game at right guard in 2000, all of those starts have been at center.

But the injury put McCollum's career in doubt. For a few moments right after
the injury, he considered retiring. Then he quickly came to the conclusion
that he didn't want to end his career on such a downer — sitting out his final
season with an injury. So here he is, one of only six players remaining from
the Rams' 1999 Super Bowl championship season, back for his 14th NFL campaign.

Against the Broncos, McCollum tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral
ligaments in his left knee. He waited more than a month before undergoing
surgery.

"I'm real glad I didn't do this just a few years ago, because they used to
slice them open down the side," McCollum said. "There was a lot more rehab, and
they'd (operate) right away. But now they wait like six weeks. You wait so that
the MCL can heal up a little bit, so the swelling goes down and you've got
(range of) motion. It worked good for me."

The rehab process was tedious but not torturous. The real test won't begin
until training camp, when the pads are on and there's potential for contact in
every practice. (Players wear only shorts, shirts, and helmets in minicamps and
organized team activities.)

Despite his advanced football age, McCollum doesn't feel his skills have
diminished.

"I try to improve every year," he said. "There's stuff that you can learn every
year and try to get better at. I think if anything, I'm better than I was."

Still good enough, he thinks, to start in the NFL, even with Romberg's play
last December.

"He did pretty good," McCollum said. "He'll be a good player in this league
from what I saw of him those last three games."

McCollum, flashing a sly smile, just hopes that Romberg's time isn't right now.

"Maybe just wait a little bit," said McCollum, who's entering the final year of
his contract.

Professional athletes rarely leave the game on their own terms. That decision
usually is made by others. McCollum saw this first hand when his good friend —
guard Adam Timmerman — was released in February after eight seasons with the
Rams.

"It stinks not having him around," McCollum said. "But that's how this business
works."